Love is a Curse
by TacoLord9000
Summary: He would rather die than marry Amy Rose. He would not be chained to a person and lose his freedom. The odd thing about that is that is exactly what he found himself having to choose between. However a darkness looms on the horizon.
1. An Ancient Curse

**A/N: This is my first story so don't expect it to be spectacular. Criticism is much appreciated, so review at your pleasure.**

Chapter 1: An Ancient Curse

Sonic was speeding through the forest in the moonlit night. He was enjoying the scenery and the cool breeze that swept the late summer night. There was a certain beauty of the night that Sonic respected and enjoyed. The trees were large but did not overcrowd the forest and make it dense. Insect sounds penetrated the forest making it full of life and energy.

Running was Sonic's life; imagining a life without it, was something that Sonic could hardly fathom. Sonic often would ponder what it would be like to have a normal life; a life not full of smashing robots, chaos emeralds, and having to beat Eggman every damn time. But alas, by whatever great divine power that existed, he had been blessed with remarkable speed and courage that allowed him to persevere over the forces of ill will and evil.

_I think I'll go see Tails, tomorrow, haven't seen him in a week,_ Sonic thought as he slowed down momentarily and then jumped to avoid planting his face into a fallen tree trunk. However after having successfully landed on the other side, what Sonic saw, made him stop and stare.

It was a magnificent temple that stood before him only around a hundred yards away as it was located near the edge of the forest. Sonic figured that he must have never been in this part of the forest in the past, as he had never seen this place before.

The temple itself was similar in design to the ancient temples in the Mystic Ruins, however it was about half the size of those temples, but nevertheless large enough to be explored in. Sonic noticed after approaching it that it had stone inscriptions of hedgehogs in what appeared to be tribal outfits. There was a stairway leading up to the top of the temple.

_Could this be a lost temple of an ancient hedgehog tribe? Well might as well check it out and tell Tails later, he would probably want to come here himself. _Sonic's curiosity and love for adventure was not going to allow him to walk away. He began to run up the stone stairway. When he reached the top he noticed there was dome-like top to the temple with an entrance. He decided to go ahead and check it out.

Sonic when he entered was wondering how he was going to able to see, when suddenly a row of torches lit up in flames on either side of a pathway that led up to a stone altar. _Whoa! This place sure is wacky, I should check out the stone altar, and then I guess head back to Tails's place. _

Sonic arrived at the stone altar and studied it in fascination, and then proceeded to brush his hand over the weathered stone. When he did this, suddenly the altar began to glow and shake in an eerie teal light, and a mysterious spirit came flying up from it.

"AHH!" Sonic cried out and fell back. "Who dares disturb these sacred grounds," spoke out from the mysterious transparent spirit that was merely a ball of some bizarre light. Sonic realized after getting over his initial shock that the spirit seemed to be looking at him even though it had no eyes.

The spirit said in a menacing tone, "you will pay for perverting this holy relic, thief."

Sonic, taken aback, tried to convince the spirit, "Hey now wait a second! I'm no thief, just a hedgehog with a sense of adventure!

"No one is allowed here, I shall curse you! I will look deep into your soul to see what you fear most." The spirit rushed into Sonic's body before Sonic could react. Sonic had a strange feeling all over his body. Moments later, the spirit left out of his body.

"You fear losing your friends the most, but you also fear… the loss of your freedom," the spirit said in what appeared to be an irritated tone.

The spirit continued, "The appropriate punishment for you, is to chain you to something else, make you lose your freedom, so that you learn self-restraint."

The spirit then, shot a orb of light at Sonic, who had no time to react, and immediately fell to the ground in agony.

"W-What did y-you…do to me," Sonic said gasping for air as he lay on the ground.

"You cursed foolish hedgehog! You must be wed in seven days before midnight."

"What! No, surely you must be joking?"

The spirit looked at him in annoyance, "I do not jest, hedgehog, if you fail to meet this requirement, you will meet a most untimely death."

The spirit then returned back into the altar, and the altar stopped pulsating with teal light.

Sonic continued to stare in shock at the altar as he regained his breath, then ran from the temple at a high speed. Running back through the forest only one thought penetrated Sonic the entire night.

_The smug look in Amy Rose's eyes as she had won without even doing a thing._

**A/N: Poor Sonic looks to be in quite a predicament. Reviews are welcomed as I want to improve as a writer. **


	2. Dark Conflicts

**A/N: I must say, I got a lot more positive reviews then I figured I would. Your reviews are helping provide the fuel for me to write this by the way :P. As you may have noticed, I added another sentence to the summary because I felt like it was necessary for the purpose of this story. This chapter is almost twice as long as Chapter 1, so enjoy.**

Chapter 2: Dark Conflicts

The sun's rays started to creep over the horizon and cast light up on the dark exotic jungle that encompassed the majority of the floating island. The center of the island contained the altar for the powerful Master Emerald, which allowed the island to rise above the sea as the large emerald granted its power.

A red echidna was the guardian of the emerald in question, as he had descended from the ancient Knuckles Tribe, which for almost four thousand years had guarded over the Master Emerald and formerly its seven servers, the Chaos Emeralds. Now the red echidna, Knuckles, was the sole remaining member of the lost tribe, and so he was bound by duty to guard the emerald.

Knuckles was currently sleeping and sitting up, his head against the Master Emerald. He started to stir, as his eyes slowly opened, when the light started to shine on him. He stood up slowly and started to stand up and stretch.

Knuckles looked around the beautiful island and started to relax, knowing that it would most likely be another peaceful day. Knuckles spared a glance at the Master Emerald, reflecting over its magnificent beauty.

Knuckles, while he was proud to do his job, still felt isolated from everyone, even his friends. He always felt uneasy leaving the Master Emerald alone; he knew from experience just how tiresome it was to collect all the pieces once they were shattered or used for evil purposes.

He could always take the Master Emerald with him on the move, but that would require Angel Island to fall, and therefore anyone could theoretically desecrate the island's sanctity with much more ease.

Of course he had done just that when he took the Master Emerald with him on that trip to the desert once, where he had first met Rouge, but that was a rare exception.

Knuckles ears perked up immediately when he heard the rustling of bushes in the surrounding area. He stood in a fighting stance as he wearily looked around, and shouted, "Show yourself!"

A black grey hedgehog appeared out of the foliage.

"Shadow? What are you doing here?" said Knuckles in surprise.

The hedgehog seemed slightly amused looking straight at the echidna without blinking. "I am not the person you say I am."

"What are you doing here? You have no business here!"

"Ah but you see, I have every business to be here," the hedgehog said in reply, the corners of his face lifting.

Knuckles looked in horror noticing that the hedgehog had no mouth. Something was very wrong here.

"Stay back now unless you want to be pummeled!" Knuckles said, giving a death glare at the hedgehog.

"Now, now, can't we all do this peacefully? Just hand me over the emerald and I promise I will not harm you."

Knuckles didn't hesitate as he leapt at the hedgehog from the altar his fist raised to strike him to the ground.

The hedgehog nimbly jumped back from the punch, and looked disappointed at the echidna's choice (if that was even possible).

"You've just made a very bad choice for yourself, foolish guardian," said the hedgehog as he began to laugh insanely.

Knuckles stared as the hedgehog began to change into a purple, silver demonic being with red, yellow eyes.

He began to float off the ground and create a purplish dark orb from his hand and hurled it at Knuckles. Knuckles dodged it and jumped straight at the demon, determined to stop this monster. The demon dodged the fist strike from Knuckles in the air and backhanded him with dark energy at the same time. This caused Knuckles to fly across the island about 20 feet and hit the ground with a decent amount of force.

Knuckles got up slowly in pain, but he was not out of it. The demon started to hurl more and more dark energy balls at Knuckles, who tried to dodge them, but in vain, as one eventually struck him in the side as he grunted in pain, for his back would collide straight into a tree. Knuckles humiliated and bruised beyond belief, began to back away from the demon that was floating towards him, trying to think of anything that could stop this thing. However Knuckles realized with a sick stomach that he was close to the edge of the island with little room to escape.

He looked up at the demon in desperation, trying to look for any weak spots, but he found none.

"Who are you?" said Knuckles finally resting his fists onto the ground in exhaustion.

"Mephiles, Mephiles the Dark," replied the demon as he summoned an energy ball one last time, slamming it into the ground, causing a fissure to form between the edge of the island that Knuckles was on, and the rest of the island. Knuckles yelled in desperation as he dug his claws into the ground that he was on. As Knuckles started to fall along with the earth that he was attached too, he saw the evil expression of the demon stare straight into his soul.

* * *

Tails was working hard on fixing his plane, the Tornado 2. He paused to grab a wrench beside him, trying to fix the frame of the plane.

Sonic suddenly entered through the front door looking to his left as he saw Tails tinkering away. Tails noticed that Sonic had entered the house, and he paused his work to get up and greet his best friend with a big smile.

"Hey Sonic! Where were you last night?"

"Oh, just was taking a run in the forest," replied Sonic distractedly

Tails realized immediately that something was off with Sonic, as he was not in his normal carefree attitude. Tails noticed that Sonic's eyes were slightly bloodshot, and he looked rather tired and defeated. Tails almost shouted in surprise, as he had **rarely **even seen Sonic look like this.

"Sonic did anything happen to you last night? You don't look alright."

"Oh, nothing just…a little tired that's all," said Sonic looking away from Tails.

Tails sighed to himself in defeat realizing that Sonic wasn't going to tell him what was bothering him, as he knew from experience that Sonic liked to keep to himself on more personal matters. He wasn't going to force Sonic to tell him anything if he didn't want to, but it honestly worried him.

"Sonic," Tails said tentatively, "you know you can tell me anything, that's what best buds are for."

"I know Tails, I know," replied Sonic, his expression shifting to a slight grin.

After an awkward silence, Sonic asked Tails, "So have you heard anything about Eggman?"

"No," said Tails, shaking his head, "Eggman seems to be laying low for awhile after that beat down he took from you last time."

"Haha, oh yeah," replied Sonic chuckling, "I forgot how badly I beat him last time." Sonic paused for a second with a thoughtful expression on his face, "I mean I enjoy this peace, but Eggman being inactive for a month makes me think that he is planning something big."

"But nothing that we can't handle!" replied Tails with a fist pump in the air.

Sonic laughed at Tails's action. "I wholeheartedly agree Tails; Eggman is losing his touch and putting on more weight."

"Oh I Just realized," said Tails jumping up, "Sonic do you want to come with me to the warehouse to pick some supplies?"

"Would you mind if I stay here, I am rather tired from last night?"

"Not at all, Sonic, get your rest," said Tails as he walked out and closed to the door to his workshop in the Mystic Ruins.

As soon as Tails left, Sonic's expression turned to a stressed one.

"Amy, what am I going to do with you?" Sonic asked himself out loud, as he went to Tails's living room and crashed onto the main couch.

He had considered marrying someone else for about five seconds. I mean he wasn't going to marry someone he didn't know, and there was only so many girls that he personally knew. Only one girl in his eyes would even be somewhat appropriate for him to marry, and that was Amy Rose.

Of course that didn't really mean all that much, considering it would be the simplest solution to the problem. The spirit never specified that he couldn't divorce the woman he married afterwards, but in Sonic's eyes, that was rather dishonorable. But then again, it would be a marriage of the prevention of his death, not of two souls joining together.

He didn't want to break Amy's heart truthfully, but he just didn't like her that way, and besides he was far too young to be married, and Amy definitely was far too young to be married. He guessed that he would have to pretend to like Amy in that way to some degree, just so it would make life easier, but he was going to make abundantly clear to her, that he was not going to be her property and something that she could announce to the world that she had.

He laughed grimly to himself wondering if he would be better of being insane, having imagined that run-in with the spirit. Of course death was still an option, but then again he owed more than that to his friends.

What was about Amy he didn't like? Well first of all she owned a giant hammer that she could summon out of thin air at will which from time to time he had to avoid getting squashed by, and the fact that she would chase him, demanding him to marry her.

What about Amy did he like? Well she was a rather kindhearted individual that from time to time helped motivate the team with her passionate energy, which unfortunately was used too much on trying to get his attention. She also was a rather great cook, as he quite enjoyed eating her food.

Did he love her as a friend? Yes.

Romantically? No.

But how was he going to break it to her lightly that he wanted to marry her so that he could live to run another day?

**A/N: Ah yes that is a good question, how is Sonic going to break it to her? And what is the fate of Knuckles? And will Amy EVER appear in this story? Don't worry all questions will be answered in future chapters. I promise wholeheartedly that I will never abandon this story willingly!**

**explodinghead: I promise this will not be OOC Sonic x Amy.**

**And thanks for everyone that spent their time reviewing my story. You guys rock!**


	3. Eggman's Base

**A/N: Sorry for the unexpectedly long wait, I was somewhat conflicted how to write this chapter. I also was rather busy with schoolwork and other things. I can't say that I am that satisfied with this chapter, but oh well, it's here.**

Chapter 3: Eggman's Base

As the sun started to fade away and set, darkness crept in on the land. Shadow much preferred it this way. It would make the job much easier at committing the first strike.

"This is Shadow, I have found the base. I will infiltrate and retrieve the item," said Shadow as he talked into his watch, which allowed him to communicate with the GUN HQ.

Shadow was on the top of a giant hill facing Eggman's base. The base itself was several miles ahead of Shadow in a huge clearing in one of the northern forests. It was about 1 square mile in area, and was largely made of steel. The base had a giant steel wall erected around it with robots stationed to eliminate any intruders.

"Shadow, may I be of assistance for you?" said Omega has he emerged from the tree line behind the hill.

Shadow didn't seem surprised at Omega's entrance, and merely replied dryly, "What do you have to offer?"

Omega gestured behind him, and Shadow saw a convertible war vehicle, which was specially designed to have a turret strapped onto the rear. However in this case Omega was going to be the one strapped in.

"Just like I ordered, time to pay the doctor a visit," said Shadow in an amused tone.

Shadow got into the driver's seat, positioning the seat for his preference, as Omega locked his legs and connected himself, and literally became a part of the vehicle.

Shadow revved up the car, and put the vehicle into gear, and started to barrel down the hill.

Omega began to shoot missiles one after another in an attempt to blow up a hole in the wall.

Eggman's robots were slow to respond, and lots of them were blown up at the front wall of the base, as the walls started to break down and crumble under the intense fire of Omega.

Eggman's robots that were not initially scraped and blown to pieces, started to fire volleys and volleys of missiles and machine gun fire at the car.

Shadow weaved in and out of fire and let Omega do all the destroying. Omega was as efficient as ever, a large reason why Shadow valued him so much.

Omega, who had stopped firing at the robots, was now charging his laser to create a hole in the wall, which they could pass through.

A distinctive boom could be heard, as the wall collapsed under the intense laser fire of Omega. This allowed Shadow to drive right through the nicely formed hole created by Omega.

They were now zooming through the base clearing with minimal robots, heading directly toward the main interior complex of the base.

Shadow gestured to Omega as he jumped out of the vehicle, landing smoothly on the metal floor. Omega followed in suit, as he disengaged himself from the vehicle and hovered onto the ground.

Shadow watched in satisfaction as the vehicle smashed into the wall at a high velocity, causing an explosion that produced a noticeable hole in the base's wall.

"That was not an efficient use of resources, Shadow," Omega reflected.

"On the contrary, things such as this are expendable for my purposes." Shadow replied, as he skated with his rocket shoes toward the hole, with Omega in pursuit.

* * *

Sonic was snoozing on the couch, when Tails started to shake him.

"Sonic how are you still asleep? Get up!"

Sonic open his eyes, got up, and started to stretch his legs.

Tails looked at him in disbelief, " Sonic I was gone for 6 hours, much longer than I should have, and yet you still were asleep?"

Sonic rubbed his eyes, and gave Tails a shrug.

Tails looked at him with disapproval, but then shifted to an anxious expression.

"Sonic, the reason I was gone so long, is because, Angel Island has fallen!"

"Wait, What! How did this happen?" Sonic stared at Tails in surprise.

"I don't know, but I scouted it out, and there was no sign of the Master Emerald… or Knuckles for that matter."

"Something probably happened to Knucklehead, let's go!"

"You want to take the Tornado 2? It will only take a few minutes for me to fix it."

"Nah," said Sonic shaking his head, "let's just get there by foot, after all we should be able to get there quickly since it fell from the sky and all."

* * *

A city long abandoned and crumbled, stood within the realm of the fire monster infested world, as the sky was a perpetual orange red. A monster named Iblis was the source of this, as it and its minions destroyed all significant life forms in the area, and much of the rest of the world, as it had plunged the entire Earth into eternal flame and darkness. There were only two inhabitants left in this dead, forgotten part of the world.

"What's the point anymore Blaze?" questioned a white psychokinetic hedgehog, who was currently laying the back of his head against the wall in a long abandoned building as he sat with a defeated expression.

A purple pyrokinetic cat was standing across from him on the other side. She looked at Silver with a tired expression.

"Silver, we've gone over this before."

"I know, but what's the point of fighting, when all our efforts turn out to be futile?"

"Because we have nothing else to fight for."

"Fight for what? For all we know, we're the only two people left, at least on this part of the globe."

Blaze gave Silver an irked expression, "That may be true Silver, but that doesn't mean we give in to the evil that destroyed this world. That beast deserves to be brought to justice."

"How can it be brought to justice, when it just reforms itself, after we defeat it?" said Silver as he drooped his head in defeat.

Blaze was put up with Silver's attitude. "How can you just give up like that? You never even got to know your family because of Iblis. How can you just dishonor them like that by throwing in the towel?"

"My family is dead, Blaze, no amount of honor can bring them back," said Silver, his eyes looking away from Blaze.

Blaze just sighed, "We may not know how to defeat Iblis now, but that doesn't mean we can't find a way. Silver, all we have left is this world… and each other, will you not even fight for me?"

Silver looked at Blaze with a guilty expression. "I…I'm sorry Blaze."

Blaze approached Silver and offered her gloved hand to him. Silver looked at it for a few seconds, before grabbing it, and getting up.

Blaze then did something totally unexpected; she hugged him.

Silver tensed, as her arms wrapped around his chest, as he was not use to affectionate contact like this.

"B-Blaze what are you doing?!"

Blaze said slightly baffled and irritated, "I'm showing you how much I care about you. This is how friends show how much they care for each other. Honestly Silver, you can be so naïve."

Silver, with his cheeks reddening slightly, hugged her in return tentatively. After a few moments they broke apart.

"I apologize Blaze," said Silver, "I just sometimes feel so hopeless and unsure about the world and my purpose in it."

Blaze smiled at him, "We all do, and that's why we have friends and people we care about, so that they can lift us up even when we can't ourselves, because everyone one feels that way at one point or another. "

Silver with new determination said, "Thank you for reminding me that there is something worth fighting for Blaze, and that Iblis must be destroyed, because he threatens the world that we care about."

"Then let's leave a few hours from now, so that we can find a way to beat Iblis, because he has to have a weakness of some sort."

Silver pleased by Blaze's statement, said, "I'm with you all the way, Blaze."

* * *

Shadow and Omega were currently running inside the main complex of Eggman's giant steel base. They were running along this somewhat narrow circular corridor trying to determine where Eggman's secret project information would be located.

"Omega, do you have any readings on energy sources?"

"Positive, and approximately 1000 meters distance ahead of us."

Shadow felt the presence of the energy too.

"Wait, I sense this energy also, the Doctor must have a Chaos Emerald powering his project!"

At the end of the corridor both Shadow and Omega a saw giant square room in front of them.

They entered the room looking around for the Chaos Emerald.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Shadow!"

"Doctor," greeted Shadow, as he and Omega looked up to see Eggman flying in his iconic Eggmobile.

"Now why I miss your company immensely, I'm afraid a man of my genius, has a very tight schedule."

"Spare the introductions Doctor, and hand over Project RPE and the Chaos Emerald!"

"Ah, so the government has found out about that, how inconvenient," said Eggman to himself as he brushed his mustache in thought.

Eggman then looked back down at them and said, "I'm afraid that is not possible Shadow. I suggest that you leave. I do not particularly want to harm you."

"Don't think you can dissuade me Doctor, you will hand over that project, or I will destroy everything in this base and hunt you down."

Eggman seemed disappointed at Shadow's choice. "I had such high hopes for you Shadow, but alas things don't always work like they should. Metal Sonic, come out and greet our guests of honor!"

A gate at the end of room opened up and a blue and yellow robot shaped like a certain blue hedgehog hovered over the ground and charged straight at Shadow and Omega. At the same time, Eggman opened up a passage in the ceiling and attempted to escape into the night.

Shadow and Omega both avoided the frenzied electrical charge of the robot, and Shadow told Omega hurriedly, "Omega chase down the Doctor, while I deal with Metal Sonic."

"Affirmative," said Omega as he proceeded to hover into the same place in which Eggman escaped.

Shadow refocused his attention on Metal Sonic, who was looking at him with his menacing red robotic eyes.

"You will be destroyed by the order of Master Robotnik!" said Metal Sonic in his robotic voice, as he yet again tried to charge Shadow.

Shadow jumped over him, and looked firmly at the metallic robot that had passed below and raised his arms pulsating with energy.

"CHAOS SPEAR!"

Shadow unleashed a barrage of chaos energy at Metal Sonic that almost completely destroyed the doppelganger robot.

Metal Sonic's main parts were now barely holding together as the robot lay upon the ground in poor condition, its blue outer armor scrapped.

Shadow narrowed his eyes at the miserable sight of the robot before him.

"Such a pathetic creature! You're merely a fake of a fake. I question why the Doctor would bother reprogramming you, after you betrayed him. I think I'll leave you the way you are."

Shadow then used his chaos control ability without an emerald, to escape through the same place which Omega and Eggman had gone through.

The robot dragged itself pitifully out of the room.

Shadow however, was racing across the roof, and finally saw Omega collapsed on the ground, and also saw the Eggmobile fleeing from the site.

He ran up to the warrior robot, putting his hand on the metal armor. "Omega what happened?"

Omega slowly got himself up, as he hung his head in shame, explaining briefly, "Eggman unexpectedly struck me with an EMP, allowing him to escape."

"Damn it!" said Shadow, knowing that the mission had been a failure.

Shadow noticed that he was receiving an incoming signal from his watch.

"Shadow here, the mission ended in failur-"

"Agent Shadow, the mission report can wait. You need to head over to the city immediately. The Chaos Emerald from the federal bank was stolen and you need to stop the perpetrator. "

"Very well, I will be on it, along with Omega," finished Shadow as he ended the transmission.

Shadow and Omega, skating and hovering each respectively, sprinted towards the main city where the crime had been committed.

**A/N: BTW, I would much appreciate if there were more reviews, because I need to know if something is going wrong or right in this story. It can be as simple as, "I like/disliked this part of the story because..." Don't be afraid to criticize my story, I take criticism well.**

**Now for the people who are worried why Amy has not made an appearance yet, don't worry, the time will come, sooner than you think. I hope I portrayed Shadow's character well enough in this chapter to satisfy all of you. I considered scrapping the Blaze/Silver scene because it seemed out of place in the chapter, however I didn't quite want to scrap something I spent time writing on.**


	4. An Unexpected Date

**A/N: This took longer to write than I hoped, as it was a struggle to write some parts of this. Sometimes it's hard to know what exactly you want to put in a story to make it good. **

Chapter 4: An Unexpected Date

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm really worried about Knuckles," said Tails anxiously.

Sonic and Tails were currently at the Master Emerald shrine trying to determine any clues of what possibly happened to the red echidna. Of course, this was slightly difficult because it had gotten rather late.

"Sonic look over here!"

"What is it, Tails?"

Tails was gesturing to the disturbed parts of the earth ahead. Sonic ran over there, looking at it as well. There were busted up parts of ground that seemed like forces of immense power were thrown around there.

"Sonic, I think there was some kind of a struggle here. It seems like Knuckles was fighting something that was putting up quite a fight, to cause this much damage to the area."

While Sonic was looking at the ground wondering in his mind what could have caused it, Tails was looking around the surrounding area, seeing if he could find any more clues. Tails's eyes froze at the broken bark of the tree in front of him and the disturbed grass and ground around it.

Tails flew his namesakes over to that particular tree and there in the distance, he noticed a part of island had been broken off with cracked earth on the edge.

"Sonic, follow me!"

Sonic, after hearing Tails, followed him. Both Sonic and Tails eventually arrived at the destroyed edge of the island.

"Could Knuckles have fallen off?" asked Tails.

"Hopefully not, but if he did, hopefully he could find something to grab on. He has better swimming skills than I do anyways."

"Which doesn't mean all that much…."

Sonic sighed, "It does us no good to worry about it, without proper evidence. If Knuckles is gone, then we will grieve his loss and remember what he stood for, but if Knuckles is not gone, then he will be out there fighting to get whatever has been taken from him and I firmly believe that we will find him when we go looking for him."

Tails looked at Sonic with surprise, " I didn't know you were one to be reflective Sonic."

"You of all people should know Tails, that I never give up on my friends and when you have just as much time to run, you have just as much time to think."

"But if someone has the Master Emerald in their hands…" said Tails with a hint of worry.

"We've defeated Eggman when he has had the Master Emerald before, it should be no problem to take him down if he is the one responsible, besides no one truly knows how to use the giant emerald besides Knuckles."

A sudden beeping sound interrupted the flow of conversation. Tails pulled a black device that he had taken with him. Tails's eyes scanned over the text that was present on the screen of his device and his eyes grew wide in surprise.

"A Chaos Emerald was stolen from the new bank that opened up a few days ago in Station Square!"

Sonic seemed to consider the point for a brief moment before pointing his feet the other way and saying, "Then we've got no time to lose, it's probably old Egghead up to no good again!"

Sonic started to run off the island at a moderately fast speed, with Tails not far behind keeping with his pace.

Sonic and Tails for the next several minutes trekked through the jungles of the Mystic Ruins, until they got to the clearing where the train to Station Square was located.

"Well there's the train, Sonic, it's about to leave, so we should get on quickly."

Sonic and Tails went up the wooden steps that led to the train, and got aboard, just as the train's doors closed, signaling that it was about to depart.

"Whew, just made it," said Sonic as he sat down in one of the many empty seats.

Most people on board barely even noticed that the two had gotten on, as they were either half awake, reading, or doing something on their phones. However there was a keen eye that noticed their presence.

A purple chameleon came over and sat across from where Sonic and Tails were sitting.

"Greetings, Sonic and Tails," greeted Espio.

"Hey, long time no see, Espio," replied Sonic with a grin

"Did you just…. move in town?" asked Tails.

"Ah, yes, very perceptive you are Tails. I along with Charmy and Vector just moved into Station Square a few days ago."

"So what caused you to move here?"

Espio seemed to consider the point for a few seconds before saying, "Our detective agency wasn't doing as great a business as we hoped, so in essence we moved for greater business opportunity."

"Well, why aren't you with Charmy and Vector now?"

Espio smiled at the question. "Well, let's just say, that sometimes one needs to sometimes escape the sideshow of Vector and Charmy, plus I needed to sharpen my ninja skills in the jungle without any outside distractions."

"Ah, I see," said Tails.

A few minutes later, the train started to slow down, as it was nearing its destination, Station Square. When the train stopped, everyone got up and started to exit from the train.

"It seems this is where we depart out own separate ways," said Espio, looking directly at Sonic and Tails. "Just remember, the Chaotix Detective Agency is in town, if you're in trouble. "

"Don't worry, we will," said Sonic, as they disembarked from the train.

"Alright, Sonic, let's head to the bank," said Tails, as they walked down the stairs from the train station towards the main door, which leads to the heart of Station Square.

* * *

Shadow and Omega were racing down to the new federal bank that had been implemented in the recently fixed Station Square, after it had recovered from the "Chaos Incident."

The people of the city had suffered a lot as a result of the devastation caused by the god of destruction. However the community had an upbeat attitude after the way Super Sonic had vanquished the menacing beast. Sonic and Tails were considered saviors and heroes of the city after they had both valiantly defended Station Square. The city was rebuilt anew with new hope, born from the heroics of the fox and hedgehog.

Shadow and Omega approached the bank where there were already many GUN investigators and guards already on the scene.

"Damn, seems like everyone beat us to the punch," said Shadow with slight disappointment.

A woman at the front recognized them.

"Agent Shadow and Omega, the commander wished to speak to the both of you."

The unnamed woman in question led them through the various GUN members and into the bank.

The federal bank itself was absolutely magnificent, as it had chandeliers on the high ceilings and a grand marble floor with a large reception desk, which was currently empty.

Shadow and Omega were lead into the room in which the cyan Chaos Emerald had been stolen.

"Well Shadow, Omega, I've been waiting for you," said the GUN commander.

Shadow noticed that Rouge was also in the room, as well with a few other elite members of GUN.

"Hey boys, how you doin'?" said Rouge with a wink.

Shadow merely acknowledged Rouge's presence with a nod of his head.

Shadow then looked at the room he was in.

It was a high security room with laser detectors to catch intruders, which were now currently destroyed. In the middle, the glass container harboring the emerald was now shattered, with no gem to be found.

"I was under the impression that I was suppose to be hunting down the thief of this crime," said Shadow

"Well you would be, that is if there was something to chase down," replied the commander in a grave tone.

"What do you mean?"

Everyone shuffled uncomfortably in the room at Shadow's question. Shadow narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

The commander took a photograph out of his pocket and gave it to Shadow.

Shadow looked at the photo perplexed at what he was seeing. It seemed to be a living shadow with dark energy particles fluctuating from it, breaking the glass, which harbored the emerald of power.

"As you can see, this is no ordinary thief. We've seen nothing like this before, and as a result we were not able to track it."

Shadow continued to look at photo with an odd expression.

The commander picked up on Shadow's intense scrutiny.

"Do you see something in that picture, Shadow?"

Shadow dismissed the commander's question, "Nothing of importance."

Shadow handed the photo back to the commander and went back to stand by Rouge and Omega.

"We want you three to chase down this thing...whatever it is, and figure out what it's trying to do, and retrieve the Chaos Emerald. However, as you know, having no information on this…thing, you're going to be mainly on your own on this one."

"That's fine by me," said Shadow with arrogance.

"You're dismissed you three, go out and complete the objective."

Shadow, Rouge, and Omega exited the room, leaving behind the commander and the other elite members of GUN.

"We're counting on you Shadow, Rouge, Omega…" said the commander with a degree of uncertainty. "Whatever this thing is, it is no joke."

The three comrades were already on their way, running out of the city.

"So Shadow, what did you see in the picture?" asked Omega observantly.

"This strangest sense of déjà vu, like I had seen the thing before, even though that's not possible, and something about it…feels far too familiar and sinister for comfort."

* * *

"So where is this bank, Tails?"

"It should be around here somewhere," said Tails, as he and Sonic were lost, caught up in the lively nightlife of Station Square.

Sonic looked around seeing the vibrant city. The city had certainly changed a lot after it had been rebuilt. People were so caught up in their nightly activities, that they had failed to notice even the celebrities that graced their presence, well, almost everybody.

"SONIC!"

Sonic's nerves chilled at that single word, knowing who uttered it. However before he could react properly, the strong arms of a pink hedgehog enveloped him tightly.

"Ah, Amy let me go!" said Sonic flailing his arms.

Tails looked at Sonic with a neutral expression, as Sonic was desperately looking at him, silently pleading help from him.

"Not until you take me on a date!" said Amy victoriously.

_Why does Amy always do this? _thought Sonic._ Wait a second…perhaps this is the perfect opportunity to explain to her…_

"Fine, I'll go with you on a date."

The world momentarily froze for a split second, as Tails raised his eyebrows in surprise, and Amy momentarily loosened her grip on him, as she stared up at him in shock at first, before quickly shifting to an expression of glee.

"Oh Sonic, I knew you would say yes!"

_Oh really? _thought Sonic cynically.

Sonic then shifted his attention to Tails, "Tails, I'm going to be with Amy for awhile, so go ahead and find out what you can."

Amy then grabbed Sonic's hand and dragged him down the road.

Tails watched from afar, looking puzzled, "Well, didn't see that coming"

* * *

"So Sonic, where should we got out on our date?"

Sonic sighed, "Wherever you want to go Amy."

"Hmm, I know, since it's our first date and all, let's go to that small burger restaurant down there, after all, they have chili dogs!"

Sonic's spirit slightly lifted at that statement, but not enough to quell the nervous feeling in his body.

They entered the restaurant and took their seats in one of the few booths. With each passing moment in which Amy was radiating happiness, Sonic's confidence was slowly being leeched.

A waiter eventually showed up to deliver their menus.

The young male waiter recognized the status that Sonic had.

"You're Sonic the Hedgehog, aren't you, since you've done so much for this city, I'll make sure that the check is on the house tonight, now, what will you fine young hedgehogs have tonight?"

"I'll have a sprite please," said Amy happily.

"I'll just have a glass of water," said Sonic deadpanned.

"Ok then, I'll come back when you're ready to order your food."

When the waiter left, Amy smiled at Sonic with hearts in her eyes.

"So Sonic, what were you doing with Tails earlier, I heard you tell him something before we left together, but I didn't really pay attention all that much," Amy said blushing.

_Imagine that, well I guess it can't hurt to tell her; after all she is a valuable member of the team._

"Well we're trying to find out what happened to Knuckles, as Angel Island fell with no sign of the Master Emerald or Knuckles, when we were looking for clues over there. Also one of the Chaos Emeralds was stolen from the bank tonight. We are planning to gather as much information as we can, so that we can come and maybe find Knuckles tomorrow."

Amy concerned, asked, "Well I certainly hope Knuckles is ok, but can I go with you guys?"

While Sonic preferably wanted it to be just him and Tails, he realized that certain things had to be taken in account, and besides, you never know when a giant hammer might come in handy.

"Uh, sure I guess, Amy," said Sonic awkwardly.

"Um, if you don't mind me asking, would you tell me why you accepted this date, I mean, you've never agreed to in the past, as you would always just run away and maybe say no," Amy said, looking slightly vulnerable.

Sonic was slightly conflicted on what to tell her. While initially he had planned to tell her the truth on this "date", he was far too nervous to tell her now, plus he was very uncertain on how she would react.

Would she be angry at him, thinking that his acceptance was fake and start to bash the living daylights out of him? Or would she be disappointed, knowing that whatever thing he had done or said to her that looked romantic in her eyes, was just fake, and only merely to keep himself alive. He cared about Amy very deeply just not in the way she wanted. He didn't want her to be sad or angry at him, and possibly leave his life forever. He had never considered as deeply before if Amy would ever truly get over him, after all she had always chased after him all those years after he had rescued her from the clutches of Metal Sonic.

The matter was staring to weigh heavily upon his soul. How could he tell her that he wanted to marry her not out of his non-existent love, but out of his survival? Would it irreversibly damage their relationship forever? Would they live their days married but always separate from each other, because of how he felt about her, or what he didn't feel for her. Would he able to look her in the eye, knowing that she was perpetually sad because he would never accept her love? Or could he fake his love for her, pretending that he had feelings for her, and live a lie?

She would be so happy believing his lies, as she would be living a lie and he would be living a lie, a lie. It was all a damned lie. His freedom forever gone, just so she could be happy. He had never had the courage to tell her that he didn't love her and he certainly didn't have it now. Her heart would be crushed, and it would be his entire damned fault.

_Damn it! Damn it! I can't do this! She can't know! She can't know!_

Sonic was breathing unevenly and had a death grip on the table, as he was sweating in panic.

Amy looked in immense concern at how Sonic had reacted to her question.

"You don't have to answer my question if you don't want to Sonic," she said noticing at how incredibly uncomfortable Sonic looked.

The rest of time at the burger restaurant was rather uneventful as Sonic didn't say a word and wouldn't look her in the eye. Amy tried her best to spark conversation into Sonic but it had no effect whatsoever.

She was very concerned on why exactly Sonic would react that extreme to her question, was he just very nervous to talk about his feelings for her? She knew Sonic was inexperienced in the romance department, perhaps he didn't know how to properly talk about his feelings for her? Well she had been patient for years for him to tell her that he loved her, she could wait a little while longer for him to eventually tell her the truth, as he was just beginning to show it by taking her on a date. She wouldn't rush him; the relationship would progress on his pace.

After they ate and left the restaurant, Sonic finally broke his long silence.

"Want me to run you home, Amy?"

"Sure Sonic," said Amy happily, as she loved the feeling of being in his arms as the wind rushed past them.

Sonic picked Amy up in his arms, and then raced through the people, cars, and lights that still kept the city alive at night.

Eventually they arrived at Amy's house as Sonic let her down in front of her front door.

The house was of a small medium size with a pink roof and white exterior. It had four rooms in total with a living room, a kitchen, a bedroom, and obviously a bathroom.

"I'll come back at around 9 or so tomorrow to pick you up alright?"

Without waiting for an answer, Sonic sped off into the night.

Amy watched him disappear in a flash. She could rest easy, now that she had finally had gone on her first date with her beloved blue partner.

_I love you Sonic the Hedgehog, _Amy thought happily as she went into her house to say goodbye to the long day.

**A/N: And so concludes the longest chapter of the story. Amy has no idea what Sonic is debating in his mind. It is rather disappointing that the GUN commander doesn't have a name in canon, but I don't really feel like creating one for him. The last part of this chapter was bleh imo, but what can one do?**

**eponalover101/Bluetory: Both of you say you like my writing style, so I was curious what exactly about my writing style do you like?**

**Sazie: Yeah I totally agree with you when you say this story is rushed. However this is my first fanfiction story so hopefully my writing evolves to the point where I can flesh out the story more to make it seem longer and more complete. **

**And if you have the time, make sure you review if you see something totally atrocious in this story that made you vomit internally, or something that was well done that made you smile. **


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